Polycom HDX unveiled as future of video conferencing

Polycom, Inc., the world’s leading provider of unified collaborative communications solutions, today announced the availability of the Polycom HDX^™ 9000 series, a breakthrough platform with the broadest flexibility and highest levels of performance to support any video collaboration application, including high definition (HD). The Polycom HDX solutions deliver an experience like none other with the comprehensive benefits of HD Voice, HD video and HD content sharing, and feature many industry-first capabilities such as simultaneous HD dual streams for People and Content, Siren^™22 kHz StereoSurround^™ audio and unmatched HD camera performance. The Polycom HDX series (Polycom HDX 9001, Polycom HDX 9002 and Polycom HDX 9004) provides users with the greatest visual, audio and content detail in a multimedia collaborative meeting. The pure clarity, rich detail and extended fidelity improve productivity and efficiency on a scale never before available in conferences over distance, approaching the same value as face-to-face meetings.

The Polycom HDX solutions are based on the Polycom UltimateHD^™ architecture, the foundation for the industry’s only integrated and complete HD video collaboration offering that includes video systems, video multipoint control units (MCU), HD recording, streaming and playback systems (for both video and content), related HD services, and integrated Polycom HD Voice endpoints. The Polycom UltimateHD architecture gives customers the quality, scalability, backwards compatibility and end-to-end integration they require.

“The Polycom HDX series delivers far more than a simple increase in video resolution, and significantly enhances the entire user experience – including voice quality, video quality and content sharing capabilities,” said Ed Ellett, senior vice president and general manager of video communications at Polycom. “In many applications, sharing content over distance can be far more valuable than just seeing other people. It is often the exchange of content that allows critical ideas to be transferred, enabling organizations to move swiftly and make confident decisions.”

Polycom is delivering HD video communications technology in solutions for the executive desktop, conference rooms, and vertical solutions for education, healthcare/telemedicine, and judicial environments. In addition, Polycom is working with its alliance partners including Avaya, Microsoft, Alcatel, and IBM to enable the UltimateHD experience in the leading unified communications environments. Today, Polycom is announcing the Polycom HDX 9000 series (Polycom HDX 9001, Polycom HDX 9002 and Polycom HDX 9004) and the Polycom Practitioner Cart HD for healthcare and medical applications. Polycom HDX video solutions can be integrated in an evolutionary manner as organizational needs demand since they actually improve the performance of existing standards-based video communications systems (non HD) on a network by sending and receiving people and content in higher resolution during a call and leveraging the highest capabilities of those systems.

“The Polycom HDX delivered the best video call I have ever experienced,” said Andrew Davis, managing partner of Wainhouse Research. “The HDX systems provide an exceptional user experience for voice, video and content, and offer a lot of flexibility for customizing its video capabilities for the room and the specific application need. Polycom is also delivering an integrated, end-to-end HD offering, which has all the pieces customers need for a complete HD solution. HD provides video conferencing the way customers always imagined it to be – clear, crisp and seamless.”

Polycom HDX 9000 series – the UltimateHD video communications system

The Polycom HDX 9000 series (Polycom HDX 9001, Polycom HDX 9002 and Polycom HDX 9004) is comprised of standards-based, rack-mounted video conferencing systems designed for conference rooms, integrated custom-room environments and specialized applications. The systems feature flexible, standards-based input and output options for customizing the solution for specific needs. The Polycom HDX 9000 series features many industry-first capabilities such simultaneous HD dual streams for People and Content, Siren22 StereoSurround and unmatched HD camera performance. System capabilities include:

*         True HD video resolution with unrivaled motion handling – Polycom HDX systems deliver true, standards-based 720p HD video (1280 x 720 at 30 fps) at speeds from 1 Mbps to 4+ Mbps. The Polycom EagleEye HD camera delivers unmatched performance at resolutions up to 720p at 60fps and the Polycom HDX platform is equipped to deliver 1080p video resolution. The systems support HD in both 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios without image distortion, which enables customers to use existing 4:3 HD-capable monitors. The Polycom HDX systems deliver 4CIF (704 x 576) video resolution starting at 256 kbps providing extraordinary video even at low data rates.

*        Only systems that deliver simultaneous HD multimedia content - Polycom HDX systems are the only HD video conferencing solutions available that deliver full motion HD content for simultaneous HD people and content dual streams (standards based H.239), which can include all types of content from full-motion video, animation, and engineering schematics, to architectural drawings, and images from high definition document cameras.

*        Crystal-clear Siren^™22 StereoSurround^™ audio - Polycom HDX systems feature new Siren 22 (22kHz) StereoSurround, super wideband technology that delivers crystal-clear stereo audio with minimal processing requirements. New Polycom HDX microphone arrays offer 360-degree pick-up capabilities to deliver Polycom Siren 22 StereoSurround, and feature advanced technology that captures and balances voice volume, while reducing background noise. The new microphone arrays enable people to be heard equally well whether they are two feet or twenty feet from the microphone itself. The microphone arrays are also immune to cell phone interference (GSM – Global System for Mobile Communications).

*         New advanced HD video conferencing camera – The Polycom EagleEye HD camera is an motorized pan/tilt/zoon (PTZ) camera that offers high definition imaging up to 60 fps with unmatched 12x zoom capabilities, a 270–degree total viewing angle and, through the Polycom HDX systems, offers up to 99 camera pre-set options.

*         Unmatched flexibility for systems integrators – The Polycom HDX series (Polycom HDX 9001, Polycom HDX 9002 and Polycom HDX 9004) features unmatched flexibility for integrating HD video communications into custom rooms or for specific applications. The 2U rack-mounted codec features up to five video inputs (all HD capable), up to four video outputs, and up to three audio inputs and two audio outputs (all stereo). The system offers crossbar switching for maximum design flexibility.

*         Conference phone integration for natural call progression – The Polycom HDX 9000 series will feature integration with Polycom’s next generation VoIP conference phone, scheduled for availability in the second quarter of 2007. This integration will enable natural call progression turning a voice call into a video call with the touch of a button. Users will also be able to use the familiar phone keypad to dial a video call.

*         Provides integrated, standards-based HD platform - The standards-based systems integrate with Polycom MGC^™ video bridges, which are the only scalable systems delivering true HD multipoint capabilities, and the Polycom RSS^™ 2000 recording, streaming and archiving server, which is the only solution on the market that can record and playback video and content in HD. The Polycom HDX systems are interoperable with other standards-based (H.264) HD video conferencing solutions and are backwards compatible with other standards-based video conferencing systems from Polycom and other manufacturers.

Polycom, Inc. is the worldwide leader in unified collaborative communications (UCC) that maximize the efficiency and productivity of people and organizations by integrating the broadest array of video, voice, data and Web solutions to deliver the ultimate communications experience. Polycom’s high quality, standards-based conferencing and collaboration solutions are easy to deploy and manage, as well as intuitive to use. Supported by an open architecture, they integrate seamlessly with leading telephony and presence-based networks. With its market driving technologies, best-in-class products, alliance partnerships, and world-class service, Polycom is the smart choice for organizations seeking proven solutions and a competitive advantage in real-time communications and collaboration.